Monday morning arrived, and I was finally going back to school. It was the usual Monday morning routine—getting dressed for school, eating a big bowl of Kooky Crunch cereal, and Denise getting on my nerves. But I have to admit that I felt different. I was excited that I was going back with an incredible secret, a secret that only Ronald and I knew about. Well, maybe. What made me nervous was that there might be another person who had the same secret—Hoody. If Hoody and I had the same powers, how would I be able to stop him? Would we eventually come to a showdown, a fight to the finish? But maybe Hoody doesn’t have the same powers. Maybe the glow of his eyes was just the glare of the sun. Yeah, that’s it. I bet it was just my imagination.

As I was walking with Denise to school I bumped into Erika. She asked me how I was feeling and what it felt like to be struck by lightning. Boy, if I could only tell her the truth. She said I’ve been the talk of the school and everyone was excited that I was coming back. When I finally walked into the classroom, all my classmates mobbed me. They gave me hugs and pats on the back. They asked me all kinds of questions like, how did it feel? Did it hurt? Can I glow in the dark? It was pretty cool being the center of attention. The teacher, Mr. McMillan, asked me to stand in front of the class and tell my story. So I did. I told the class everything about the incident—from the glue on the umbrella to what kind of ice cream the nurses gave me at the hospital. Of course, I left out a few details.

Throughout my story I would give a wink to Ronald, who was sitting in the back of the classroom. He just smiled and winked back. As I was wrapping up there was a loud ringing in the hallways. It was the fire alarm. Principal Dean’s voice came over the loud speaker. “THIS IS NOT A DRILL, THIS IS NOT A DRILL. TEACHERS, PLEASE ESCORT THE STUDENTS OUT OF THE BUILDING IN AN ORDERLY MANNER. I REPEAT THIS IS NOT A DRILL.” I followed my teacher out of the room and quickly caught up to Ronald, “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Hoody!” we both said at the same time. We scanned the crowd for Hoody but didn't see him anywhere. I knew he was somehow responsible for this, but he was nowhere to be found.

“Cindy, is Hoody here today?” I asked a girl from his class.

“Yes. He went to the restroom and while he was out the fire alarm went off. He’s probably still in there.” She said and hurried along with the rest of the students.

“I’ve gotta find him,” I whispered to Ronald.

“Okay, I’ll cover for you as long as I can. Just hurry, and be careful!”

I nodded and ducked into the crowd, heading as fast as I could towards the boy’s bathroom down the hall. I managed to get by Mr. McMillan without him noticing. I slipped silently into the bathroom and was surprised to find it empty. No Hoody. No anybody. I was headed for the door when I noticed that the window was open. It’s always closed, so I walked over slowly and looked out. There he was, standing right under the flagpole in front of the building. It was like he was waiting for me to find him. In case of an emergency, that’s where all the students and faculty are supposed to meet. He was the only one standing there, and he had his arms crossed. He didn’t move a muscle and he still had his sunglasses on. I was hoping he would show me the color of his eyes, just to confirm what I thought I saw, but no luck. Instead, he just stood there motionless. He completely ignored me and it was ticking me off.

“Hoody, stay right there, we need to talk!” I yelled out the window. Just then the bathroom door opened. I turned to find a teacher in the doorway.

“Young man, you can’t be in here. You need to leave now!”

“Yes, sir, I’m going.” I said and took another quick look out the window but Hoody was gone. Where did he go? How did he disappear so quickly? I could now see the kids and teachers rushing from the school and heading towards the flagpole. There was no sign of Hoody. I lost him. I could hear sirens approaching the school and the smell of smoke started to fill the building. I left with the teacher and joined my classmates outside.

 

Yellow school buses showed up immediately to take us to Rosa Parks High School. I caught up with Ronald and asked him if he had seen Hoody but he hadn't. He did overhear the firefighters discussing the fire. They said the fire started in the basement in the maintenance room. The good thing was that the fire hadn't spread any further. The firefighters thought that the incident could have started with an electrical fire, but were not so sure. They couldn’t seem to figure out what could have started it.

“I know it was Hoody. We’ve got to find him and get to the bottom of this. Hopefully, he’s on one of these buses, and we can confront him.”

“WE?” Ronald shouted. “Let’s get this straight. I’m the brains of the operation, and you’re the muscle. I am not trying to end up like a burnt piece of bacon. No thanks. You’re on your own this time!”